Accused teen hitman's family hard hit by drugs, crime

Yolanda was deported after she served two months in jail. Within four months, she was back in the United States.

“After she had that problem with drugs, she changed her life around,” her relative said. “She dumped the bad influences in her life.”

Caught during escape

Yolanda started over again in San Diego with Gabriel Aguirre Manuel, who worked repairing electronics. She gave birth to a daughter in 2000 and to another one in 2001.

The family moved to an apartment in Logan Heights, where neighbors knew Yolanda as the woman who sold Avon products and the Jehovah’s Witness who went door to door talking about God and handing out literature.

“She was a good person,” a longtime neighbor said. “She never caused any problems.”

The owner of a nearby market said Yolanda typically bought stamps, snacks for her girls and phone cards to call south of the border.

Yolanda never went back to Mexico to see Edgar and his siblings, but she stayed in touch with them and would send money occasionally, her relative said.

Around 2008, her daughters Elizabeth and Lina-Ericka, now 19 and 23, came to visit for a couple of months in San Diego. Elizabeth returned later on her own, and her Mom tried to persuade her to stay and get a job.

Ten days ago, Edgar and Elizabeth were planning to fly from Cuernavaca to Tijuana and then cross into the United States. Their goal: to flee Mexico and seek refuge with their mom.

Both children are tied to the Beltran Leyva affiliate.

An anonymous tip led the army to the airport, where soldiers arrested Edgar and Elizabeth. Bags packed with dirty laundry suggested a hasty departure for a flight that would have put the pair at the U.S. border just before midnight. Lina-Ericka, who drove her siblings to the airport, also was arrested.

Four days later, on Monday night, the U.S. Border Patrol sent agents to the San Diego street where Yolanda and her family live. She and her husband were arrested for illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported.

Her bail was set at $20,000; his at $15,000. Their two daughters, both U.S. citizens, are staying with a relative.

Accusations of murder

A day after Mexican officials identified Edgar as “El Ponchis,” a car with a speaker on its roof drove through the streets of Tejalpa, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Jiutepec where the teen grew up, blaring news of the boy’s capture.

Some people wondered how Edgar had arrived at this point in his young life.

Gym teacher Daniel Franco remembered him as a second-grader before he was expelled from school. “At that age, he wasn’t taking drugs,” Franco said. “He was a good-natured but abandoned kid.”

Authorities said Edgar and Elizabeth worked for Julio “El Negro” Radilla, who has been fighting for control of the drug trade in the state of Morelos, which includes Cuernavaca and Jiutepec. The region was part of Beltran Leyva territory until Mexican marines killed the cartel’s leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, a year ago.